When was the electric pen invented by Edison?

Yes, Edison did invent an electric pen, too! You might wonder why a pen should have electricity, but it was actually a device used to make multiple copies. The idea was born when Edison and his colleague Charles Batchelor noticed something interesting on their telegraph printer, which had a stylus that punctured the special chemical paper. As the paper got punctured the chemical solution got through it and made a marking under it. This set them thinking: why not use this idea for making multiple copies of documents?

This led to the invention of the electric pen, in 1875. This device would make perforations on paper. The perforated paper could then be used as a stencil of handwritten documents for making several copies. The electric pen was powered by a small electric motor: it is said to be the first appliance driven by an electric motor, to be produced and sold in the U.S.A. Edison received a patent on it in 1877.

The electric pen did not survive for long, as simpler methods to make stencils came later. But the very idea of stencil-copying came from this brilliant idea of Edison’s. It can even be considered a forerunner of today’s tattoo guns.

Picture Credit : Google

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